Bharti Airtel is likely to report a multi-fold jump in September quarter profit, a few brokerages suggested. The telecom operator may log 19-20 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth in net sales, they said, adding that all eyes would be on the progress on the 5G rollout, capex intensity, 4G subscriber additions, and traction in home broadband and other new initiatives.
Edelweiss Securities pegs Bharti Airtel profit at Rs 2,756 crore against Rs 593.70 crore (net income before exceptional items) in the year-ago quarter, up 364.70 per cent.
It sees revenues rising 20 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 34,129.60 crore from Rs 28,435.20 crore in the year-ago quarter. Ebit margin is seen coming in at 25.3 per cent against 24.1 per cent in June and 19.9 per cent in the year-ago quarter.
On quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis, Edelweiss is building in a 3.4 per cent growth in revenue with a 2.8 per cent growth for the India business and 5.9 per cent growth for the Africa business (in rupee terms).
“We expect the India mobile services business to grow by 2.5 per cent QoQ led by 2 per cent ARPU growth and 2.0mn subscriber addition. For Africa business, we expect a 2.4 per cent QoQ growth in dollar terms and flattish Ebitda margins. On a consolidated basis, we anticipate the Ebitda margin to increase by marginal 61bps QoQ with receding inflationary cost pressures,” it said.
According to Elara Securities, Bharti Airtel’s profit growth in September quarter will be the second highest among Nifty stocks.
While Bharti Airtel had reported a consolidated net income (before exceptional items) at Rs 594 crore in the September quarter of 2021, its consolidated net income after exceptional items for the quarter stood at Rs 1,134 crore.
Emkay Global expects profit for Bharti Airtel to come in at Rs 2,274.90 crore, up just over 100 per cent, when taking year’s ago net income (after exceptional items) into account.
Subscriber addition trend is likely to remain similar to June quarter’s, with addition of 20 lakh, it said.
“Data subscriber addition is likely to come in at 45 lakh. APRU is expected to grow by 1 per cent QoQ. Consequently, the India mobility segment is likely to grow at 1 per cent QoQ. On the non-mobility front, the Homes and Enterprise segments are likely to report steady growth of 5 per cent and 3 per cent, respectively, while DTH would decline by another 0.4 per cent QoQ,” it said.
This brokerage sees sales for Bharti Airtel growing 19.2 per cent YoY at Rs 33,752.70 crore.
Prabhudas Lilladher said it is factoring in net subscriber addition of 20 lakh and average revenue per user (ARPU) of Rs 188 for the quarter. Africa, enterprise and home service segment will show steady growth ahead while DTH business will be muted, it said.
This brokerage is expecting consolidated adjusted profit to come in at Rs 2,344.10 crore. It sees consolidated sales growing 21 per cent YoY to Rs 34,285.30 crore from Rs 28,326.40 crore in the year-ago quarter.
“Airtel Africa business is expected to see revenue growth of 7.5 per cent QoQ, while we have factored in 4.5 per cent QoQ revenue growth for the enterprise segment and 50 bps Ebitda margin improvement. Home services segment will see revenue growth of 5.6 per cent QoQ with flat margins. For DTH we have factored flat profitability trend in Q2,” it said.